Dr Beth Fulton is a marine scientist and principal research fellow with CSIRO.  She supervises three graduate students, two post-doctoral fellows and oversees a team of 15 scientists.  In 2007, she was the Science Minister’s Life Scientist of the Year.  She gives

“Don’t pre-judge an idea.  Give it a fair go, even if it sounds odd at the start, or isn’t what you would have done.  Judge each idea on its merits as it comes in.

“In the same way that a researcher shouldn’t get caught up in what everyone else is thinking, as a mentor you should give your students the support and freedom to do that as well.

“Let them make the odd mistake.  You can’t forewarn them to everything.  If it’s going to be something you know will be a dead-end, because you’ve gone through it yourself, explain why you think the way you do.

“Students are a bit like little kids.  They’re basically baby researchers, so to speak, and they’ve got to find their own way.  The best way to do that is to be supportive and open-minded.

“I think a lot of supervisors dictate what their student will do and are always looking over their shoulder, not giving them any freedom to learn.

“They might think they’re being supportive but they’re taking the fun and the challenge out of science.   Some of the best work comes when people are really pushing those boundaries and going where it’s a little bit risky to step.”

Over the next months, we continue our conversation with Dr Fulton.  She’ll tell us about balancing work, life and family, and tell us what it’s like being a female scientist of international renown.

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• Ex situ – Balance: Dr Beth Fulton – “Try to find a happy life-balance”
• Skills – Communication: Advocacy, objectivity and talking to your grandmother
• Skills – Negotiating the Workplace: Dr Beth Fulton on being a female scientist of international renown